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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0419

Positive maternal mental health during pregnancy and child psychopathology and socioemotional development: potential mechanisms and new directions

POSITIVE MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH DURING PREGNANCY AND CHILD PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: EXPLORING POSSIBLE MECHANISMS AND NEW DIRECTIONS

Positive maternal mental health during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of child psychopathology, but evidence regarding its association with socioemotional development is inconsistent.

The aim of this study was to provide an overview of prospective cohort studies examining the association between positive maternal mental health during pregnancy and child psychopathology and socioemotional development, and to discuss potential mechanisms and new research directions. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus; prospective cohort studies were synthesized using narrative synthesis, and risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). A total of 15 articles were included; 10 examined child psychopathology, 7 examined socioemotional development in children, and 2 addressed both outcomes. The main finding was that positive maternal mental health during pregnancy was generally associated with a lower risk of child psychopathology, whereas evidence regarding its association with socioemotional development was inconsistent across studies. Regarding risk of bias, 8 of the 10 studies examining child psychopathology were rated as having moderate risk and 2 as having high risk; of the 7 studies examining socioemotional development, 4 were rated as having moderate risk and 3 as having high risk. The authors propose the HPA axis and cortisol, immune and inflammatory processes, epigenetic mechanisms (such as telomere biology), oxytocin and attachment, and nutritional and metabolic pathways as potential mediating mechanisms. In conclusion, cohort studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms, along with trials of interventions aimed at enhancing positive mental health during pregnancy in mothers with mood symptoms.

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